Call it "wedding diplomacy," perhaps. Queen Elizabeth has invited Arab royals because it will be “good for diplomatic relations” between Britain and the Middle East, reports The Daily Mail.
Many seem to be declining to make an appearance, however. The King of Jordan, the Sultan of Oman, and the King of Saudi Arabia have all been invited – but are sending others in their place.
According to the official list of guests, no representative of the Jordanian monarchy appears to be attending, while Oman will be represented by Culture Minister Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said. The Saudi royal family will be represented by Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz and Princess Fadwa bin Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdulrahman. The crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, appears to be one of the few Arab royals to actually accept his invitation.
William and Kate might be relieved that at least one of their invites was declined. The invitation of Bahrain’s crown prince raised the ire of human rights groups who said Britain was turning a blind eye to that government's brutal crackdown on opposition protesters. Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa on Sunday officially declined his invite, saying he did not want to tarnish the event.
